On an island in the first half of the Grand Line, a makeshift tent camouflaged with branches and leaves stood at the roots of an ancient tree in a remote corner of the woods.
A man over five meters tall, wearing an oversized trench coat and a helmet-like half mask, rested against the tree.
His clothes were torn in several places, evidence of many hard battles.
Even as he rested with his eyes closed, his metal-gauntleted hands gripped the Meteor Chain Sickle.
The Meteor Chain Sickle was an unusual weapon: the "handle" of its meteor hammer was itself a one-handed War Scythe.
(Image to be added later)
Ever since the Lizard King, Hanafuda, had lost to a Supernova named Ace a few days earlier, the World Government had stripped him of his Shichibukai title.
"...Cough, cough."
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as he coughed.
After his defeat, Hanafuda had never had a chance to properly recover.
He had intended to go to Wano Country, both to reunite with his children and to seek refuge with Kaido.
But his whereabouts kept being discovered along the way. His former enemies always found him with ease.
"He's on this island!"
"Find him!"
A clamor rose from the coast. Hanafuda knew without thinking that those bastards had found him again.
He had spent years collecting Zoan Devil Fruits wherever he could, making plenty of enemies in the process.
Some of them were middling "powerhouses." They knew a little two-color Haki, but not much, and had scraped together bounties worth tens of millions.
Before his injuries, Hanafuda would never have given them a second thought. Now, however, they were a deadly problem.
"-Whew-"
He stood up, weapon in hand.
Hanafuda knew hiding here would do little good.
"Hanafuda! Hahahaha! A